During Operation Peace for Galilee
D9s were employed in breaching and paving ways through mountains and
fields in the mountain landscape of southern Lebanon. The D9s also
cleared minefields and explosive belly charges set on the main routes by
Syrian army and Palestinian insurgents. Because the D9 served as
front-line tools, the IDF developed armor kits to protect the lives of
the soldiers operating them.Between the wars, D9 bulldozers were employed in earthworks, fortifications
buildings, opening routes and clearing explosive charges. During the
late 1980s Israeli-made armor was installed on the D9L bulldozers that
were in IDF service. Improved armor kits were designed and installed on
the D9N bulldozers during the 1990s.[citation needed]During the Second Intifada
(2000 and henceforth) the armored D9 bulldozers gain notoriety as being
an effective tool against Palestinian militants, as they were almost
impervious to Palestinian weapons and withstood even RPGs and Belly charges
with more than 100 kg and even half a ton of explosive. Therefore, they
were used to open safe routes to IDF forces and detonate explosive
charges. The bulldozers were used extensively to clear shrubbery and
structures which was used as cover for Palestinian attacks. In addition
they razed houses of families of suicide bombers.Following several incidents where armed Palestinians barricaded
themselves inside houses and killed soldiers attempting to breach the
entries, the IDF developed "nohal sir lachatz" (נוהל סיר לחץ "pressure cooker procedure") in which D9s and other engineering vehicles were used to bring them out by razing the houses; most of them surrendered because of fear of being buried alive.During the Battle of Jenin 2002 armored D9 bulldozers cleared booby traps and improvised explosive devices,
and eventually razed houses from which militants fired upon Israeli
soldiers or contained possible IEDs and booby traps. A translated
interview with one of the drivers was published by Gush Shalom.
After the deadly ambush in which 13 soldiers were killed the D9s razed
the center of the camp and forced the remaining Palestinian fighters to
surrender, thus finishing the battle with an Israeli victory.In Rafah and near the Philadelphi Route
the D9s razed thousands of buildings according to human rights reports;
Israel claimed it is a security measure necessary to discover and
destroy smuggling tunnels
and destroy firing positions that threaten the forces in the area,
while Palestinians claimed it was to create a "buffer zone" and punish
Palestinians for IDF casualties.While Palestinians saw the D9 as a devastating weapon, and human
rights groups criticized it for the massive damage it caused to
Palestinian infrastructure, Israelis and military experts saw the D9 as a
necessary tool for combatting insurgency and terrorism and a key factor
in reducing IDF casualties.During the early 2000s, the new D9R entered IDF service, equipped with a new generation armor designed by the IDF's MASHA (Hebrew: מש"א‎, lit. Restoration and Maintenance Center), Israel Aerospace Industries and Zoko Shiloovim (Caterpillar Inc. importers in Israel). Due to the increasing threat of shaped chargeanti-tank rockets and anti-tank missile,
the IDF introduced in 2005 a slat armor, installed in large numbers on
the IDF D9R dozers in 2006. The slat armor proved to be effective and
life-saving; its developers and installers won the IDF's Ground Command
award.The IDF also operates armored remote-controlled D9N bulldozers, called "Raam HaShachar" (Hebrew: רעם השחר‎,
lit. "thunder of dawn") often incorrectly referred as "black thunder".
The remote-controlled bulldozer is used when there is a great risk for
human life, mainly when opening dangerous routes and detonating
explosive charges.Armored D9R bulldozers and unmanned "Raam HaShachar" D9N bulldozers played important role in the Second Lebanon War (2006) and Operation Cast Lead
(2008–2009). Both bulldozer types were involved in opening routes,
clearing explosives and IEDs, building sand mounds to protect AFVs
and infantry camps, and demolishing structures such as rigged
buildings, HQs, warehouses, outposts, bunkers and tunnels – often
concealed in civilian structures. One D9 was abandoned by IDF during battles near Al-Tiri and was captured by Hezbollah fighters. In total, 100 D9s were deployed during Operation Cast Lead.Armored D9R bulldozers took part in the effort to extinguish 2010 Mount Carmel forest fire.
The armored bulldozers opened route to fire trucks and fire fighters
into the heart of the fire. They also created buffer zones by clearing
shrubbery and mounting soil barriers in order to prevent the fire from
spreading. They also helped extinguish fires by burying them in dirt and
soil.In 2014 the IDF Caterpillar D9 was recorded in Guinness Book of Records as the most armored bulldozer in the world.